Conventionally, card connectors generally have a card insertion detection mechanism which detects when a card, such as a memory card or a Subscriber Identity Module (“SIM”) card, is inserted.
A conventional card connector 100 is shown in FIG. 13A and FIG. 13B, which illustrate a conventional card insertion detection mechanism 110 having: a movable terminal 120; a first fixed terminal 130; and a second fixed terminal 140.
When a card C is not inserted into the card connector, as shown in FIG. 13A, the movable terminal 120 is displaced in an X1 direction, and a wiping portion 121 of the movable terminal 120 is in contact with the first fixed terminal 130. In this state, the first fixed terminal 130 is in an ON state, whereas the second fixed terminal 140 is in an OFF state. The movable terminal 120, the first fixed terminal 130, and the second fixed terminal 140 are connected to a detection circuit, not shown. The detection circuit detects that the card C is not inserted by a combination of detection signals (ON/OFF) from the first fixed terminal 130 and the second fixed terminal 140.
When the card C is inserted, the movable terminal 120 is displaced in an X2 direction and the wiping portion 121 makes contact with the second fixed terminal 140, as shown in FIG. 13B. In this state, the first fixed terminal 130 is in OFF state, whereas the second fixed terminal 140 is in ON state. The detection circuit detects that the card C is inserted and the card C is positioned at a writable position by a combination of detection signals (ON/OFF) from the first fixed terminal 130 and the second fixed terminal 140.
In this situation, when the wiping portion 121 moves from the first fixed terminal 130 and makes contact with the second fixed terminal 140, the wiping portion 121 is configured to wipe the top faces of the first fixed terminal 130 and the second fixed terminal 140 to remove contaminants or oxidation therefrom.
However, the above described configuration presents a problem when the card C has been inserted and the wiping portion 121 of the movable terminal 120 is in contact with the second fixed terminal 140. The movable terminal 120 and the second fixed terminal 140 form a closed circuit, where a constant current is always flowing. Accordingly, there is constant power consumption during the duration the card C remains inserted. The total amount of power consumption can be significant, especially when the power source is a battery. During typical use, the period the card C is inserted into the card connector 100 is often longer than the period the card C is not inserted into the card connector 100, thereby consuming a large amount of power from the battery.